eBay has teamed up with fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff to make tech accessories that eBay sells on its web site. The first round of this collaboration produced 6 products including iPhone cases and iPad cases. These cases are available on eBay's Fashion Vault exclusively for the holiday season.

Design

For those who aren't familiar with Rebecca Minkoff's work, she starts out as a handbag designer and has quickly grown her collections into shoes, accessories and more for women. Her designs are known as modern-chic mixed with tradition and subtle edgy touches. One of the most eye-catching piece in the Rebecca Minkoff @ eBay collection is the Stud case for iPhone 4/4S. The case comes in black netted design and has pokey studs that Abby Sciuto (NCIS) would be proud of. While the dog collar design looks great on Abby's choker, on an iPhone case, the studs poke into your hand and some times get caught on headset wires and other things in a bag.

The Rebecca Minkoff case is form fitting for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. The slim case (if you don't count the spikes) has a matte finish and it's not too slippery to handle. The interior doesn't have any soft touch treatment but it won't scratch your iPhone 4S while putting the case on or taking it off. Two vertical sides have thin lips that can latch onto iPhone 4S' front edges for adding security. The case comes in only black.

Features

Despite the pokey back, the Rebecca Minkoff @ eBay case is very functional in other aspects. The case has large cutouts on top and bottom of the iPhone 4S, leaving the 30-pin connector, the mic and speaker on the bottom, power button and audio out jack on top of the phone open for easy access. The case has two custom cutouts for the silence button (fits both AT&T and Verizon iPhone 4 models) and volume buttons on the side. The iPhone 4S case also has a large cutout on the back for the rear camera and flash, both work perfectly while the phone is sitting in the case.

The pyramid shaped spikes don't feel good in hand, but it gives your iPhone 4S some elevation off the surface. If a place is damp or dusty, the spikes can function like stands to keep the case off the surface with moisture, dust or dirt.

Conclusion

While it's awesome to see trendy fashion brands are getting into tech gear accessory market, and we did enjoy some of the Lady Gaga cases, the Rebecca Minkoff @ eBay Stud case for the iPhone 4S just doesn't feel ergonomic in hand. The case certainly doesn't look like anything we've seen for the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4, and has a modern goth style. It's a functional case if you don't mind the spikes on the back, and it can go with your other goth-style outfit or purses.